Archive of Our Own ^beta

Katsuki had devised a genius plan. It was foolproof really.

The fact of the matter was Midoriya Izuku was the most oblivious person on earth when it came to romance. Anything short of the most direct confession involving the words “I want to date you” or “I’m in love with you” would go right over his head. Katsuki had seen it happen. He’d experienced it happening.

For years now.

Katsuki had tried everything. He’d suggested they go out for dinner. Most of the time the most they could manage with their schedules was a bite to eat after work. Even so, Katsuki made an effort to plan dinners outside of that too— ones where they had to dress up and Katsuki had to pick him up and everything.

He’d complimented Izuku. Everything from how well he did on patrol to how good he looked in his hero costume. Sometimes Izuku looked a little startled, but he would just smile and thank him. Katsuki had tried complimenting him more, but that only seemed to make Izuku get used to it. Meaning that he wouldn’t even really react with shock or a blush anymore.

Katsuki had bought him gifts. Besides all the hero merch Katsuki showered him with, he frequently bought Izuku coffee or snacks or other things. Izuku was always very grateful, but only ever seemed to take it as Kacchan’s being so nice to me.

So, where had all his effort gotten him? A whole lot of Izuku time that was certainly and distinctly platonic. An Izuku that had equated Katsuki being flirty and romantic to a Katsuki who is just nicer than he used to be. As if Katsuki did this shit for anyone else.

It wasn’t all bad, of course. Izuku was his best friend, and Katsuki liked hanging out with him. They had dinner pretty regularly now, even if it was more like just a dinner after work kinda thing than what Katsuki wanted. Izuku looked so happy every time Katsuki complimented him, even if he didn’t seem flustered. Every time Katsuki bought him something, Izuku was thrilled and usually went and bought him something in exchange.

The issue was that Katsuki wanted more. He wanted every part of Izuku. To live with him and to take care of him and be taken care of in return. All the sappy, sentimental crap. Ever since they’d figured out their issues back in high school, Katsuki had been unfortunately and undeniably in love with him.

They were just perfect contrasts of each other. They had similar passions, drives, and interests, but besides that were about as different as two people could be. It kept things interesting. It also meant that Katsuki could openly admire some of Izuku’s natural traits knowing they didn’t come to himself as naturally. At least, he could now that he was no longer an egotistical idiot projecting his insecurities onto Izuku.

Katsuki, who had been openly confused and angered by Izuku’s natural inclination to put others before himself, could now see that it had never come from a place of feeling superior to others. If anything, Izuku had an issue with feeling inferior or less important than others. When Izuku offered his hand to others, it was just because he wanted to help. Not because they needed it in every case, but just because he could. It was what made him a good friend, too. Izuku was good at being there for people.

Over the years, Katsuki had tried to learn from this part of Izuku. It was an undeniably heroic trait— which was part of the whole issue in the first place. Katsuki tried not to weigh people’s significance so much. Even if he would always be the type to not care a whole lot about people he wasn’t close to. Yes, they were extras, but he did work on his worldview.

On the other side of things, Katsuki knew that he did some things better than Izuku. Though valuable to an extent, Izuku’s tendency to be so kind and see the best in people did make him vulnerable at times. Not that he was an idiot, because he wasn’t. But he didn’t look for the bad in people, and thus he often didn’t see it.

Not like Katsuki did. Katsuki knew people sucked. Pretty much everyone sucked actually. Thus, Katsuki was able to keep a healthy level of suspicion of strangers while Izuku kept up the smiley front.

Even at work, they complimented each other incredibly well. They worked together flawlessly, and their teamwork was honed to perfection at this point. Their personalities complimented each other well. They’d known each other so long and had been through so much together that a familiarity existed between them that just couldn’t be replicated.

Somehow, despite always being around him, Katsuki always wanted more. No one made him feel so alive, and no one else ever drew Katsuki’s eye half as much. And Katsuki wanted Izuku’s eyes on him always.

So, Katsuki was in love with him. The reason was simple when it came down to it: Izuku was everything he respected in a person. Izuku was everything he was and everything he wasn’t. Izuku knew him inside and out, and a lifetime of knowing each other meant there were few people Katsuki felt as comfortable around. If anyone.

Izuku was strong, determined, and relentless. If Katsuki had learned anything from dying back in high school, it was a taste of what Izuku had suffered through to earn his spot on the hero charts. In fact, Izuku had made it look easy somehow. Despite breaking bones left and right, Izuku had still somehow acted like it was all normal.

Actually, Izuku was kind of insane. And Katsuki loved that.

What Katsuki didn’t love was that Izuku was so extremely oblivious. And apparently uninterested in romance. Sure, Katsuki himself also prioritized his career over everything else. For a long time, he’d convinced himself that romance was dumb, and that he didn’t need a relationship anyways.

But years working alongside Izuku, and now doing so many romancey things without actually being in a relationship was altering Katsuki’s brain chemistry. Converting him into something he never thought he would be. Years of having to pretend he didn’t notice that Izuku’s ass was sculped by the gods. Years of being mesmerized by Izuku’s heroics and tenacity and grit. Years of competing, of rivalry, of post-shift showers in the locker room, of arguments, of making up, of being together every moment and never wanting it to end even when Katsuki was pissed at him.

Years of Katsuki having to pretend he was not the gayest man alive. For Izuku specifically.

And Katsuki knew he wasn’t being subtle, because every single one of their friends had told them so. Strangers told him so. Their old goddamn UA teachers told him so. Katsuki’s parents told him so. It was getting really fucking old, having people inform him that they could clearly see how much he was foaming at the mouth for his hero partner’s affection.

The problem was, though everyone seemed to clearly see that Katsuki was head over heels, it didn’t seem that anyone knew for sure what Izuku felt. Including Katsuki.

The issue was that in terms of personality, Izuku had been horribly, unhelpfully unchanging for years. In many ways, in fact. Izuku was consistent, to be fair, and Katsuki was definitely in love with him, but his consistency had its limits in helpfulness.

For one thing, Izuku had acted pretty much the same towards Katsuki the entire time they’d known each other. Sure, there were small changes, and they became closer—which was good. They’d gone from Katsuki being the raging bullying asshole in middle school when Izuku had been sort of scared of him to high school where they were rivals. Where Izuku would stand up to him and fight back. Then, eventually to being allies that worked together. Finally, Katsuki had gotten his shit together and they became friends. Their relationship had changed. The way Izuku acted had changed somewhat.

But the way he acted had only really changed in relation to how Katsuki himself had. And as far as Katsuki could tell, Izuku’s opinion of him had not changed a whole lot. Even when Katsuki had been a bully, Izuku had seen the good parts of him and respected his strength and more heroic qualities. Izuku had always been good at seeing the good in people and having faith that they could be better, meaning that he’d basically never held anything against Katsuki. And Katsuki was of course grateful for him and was still determined to continue atoning for the rest of their lives.

But that meant that their entire lives, Izuku had been singing his praises. Izuku had always thought Katsuki was cool and had a good Quirk and wanted to be his friend. Their entire lives and their entire friendship, Izuku had very obviously and clearly loved and respected Katsuki. Everyone knew it. He’d loved and respected him long before Katsuki deserved it at all.

But absolutely no one knew if that love was anything besides platonic. No one knew if Izuku had a thing for Katsuki, because all of the things that might have been an indicator were things that Izuku had already done. Even the things Katsuki had tried to do that were romantic— asking him to dinner, getting him gifts, complimenting him— Izuku seemed to eat it up and took the offer at every opportunity. But he’d always done that when it came to Katsuki. And it wasn’t necessarily romantic interest.

Some of Katsuki’s friends said it was. Others weren’t so sure, because Izuku’s brand of admiration was often applicable to others too.

It didn’t look romantic. It looked like Izuku being Izuku about Kacchan.

It was infuriating. And Katsuki was at the end of his rope.

Izuku was too focused on his career to have time for romance. Katsuki knew because Izuku had told him and because he’d watched Izuku very awkwardly turn people down with much sputtering and blushing. And then he and Katsuki would go hang out, and Izuku would complain about feeling awkward and bad about the whole thing for way too long.

Katsuki thought this wouldn’t be an issue for them, seeing as Izuku’s career went hand in hand with Katsuki. Izuku’s passion was heroics and his job and all that jazz, and Katsuki had no intention of changing any of that or getting in the way of that. He just wanted more.

Hell, they had even lived together for two years after high school which had not been good for Katsuki’s crush. Even if Izuku was a bit of a forgetful slob sometimes. After those years, they’d been making better money, and Izuku had suggested moving to separate places “because they could afford to.”

Whatever. Personally, at the time Katsuki thought they could’ve done the opposite, downsizing to a one-bedroom and sharing a bed. You know, save up money for the future or something. Work up the charts faster.

Katsuki wanted more. He wanted them to be together like that. He wanted all of it. He wanted Izuku, in anyway and everyway.

Though maybe he was a coward, because as much as he wanted that he wasn’t willing to throw everything in their life away for it. At least, not without some indication that he had any chance at all with Izuku. Not without knowing if Izuku would want the same.

Because if he didn’t, and Katsuki confessed… well, at best it would be horribly awkward. Izuku always got super weird and uncomfortable and embarrassed when someone confessed to him. Katsuki’s worst fear was confessing, Izuku turning him down with many apologies, and then being able to tell that Izuku was uncomfortable as hell around him but trying to hide it.

So, here they were. Twenty-three, five years into their careers, and Katsuki was pining so obviously after his best friend that the entire world knew. Except said best friend. Who remained extremely and entirely oblivious to it.

One day, Katsuki had wondered just how far Izuku’s obliviousness could go. Because in his experience and from observing, it could go pretty damn far. A part of him wondered if he had suggested the one-bedroom idea back when they lived together, if Izuku could’ve been talked into it. Probably, though he probably would’ve suggested bunk beds or something instead of sharing a bed.

That was where Katsuki’s brilliant plan came into play.

Katsuki would need to create a scenario that was completely and undeniably romantic and see how Izuku reacted. Probably awkwardly, but maybe if he seemed flustered or if Katsuki got like vibes from him then he could gain a bit of confidence. A little bit of hope. A bit of courage to actually man the fuck up and confess his undying love for his best friend.

This would be difficult, because Izuku was a master at being oblivious. That was why Katsuki intended to be direct—anything short of actually saying the words. And if he got any vibes, he would just say them he told himself.

So, he’d devised a plan.

Step one: he would take them on a weekend trip. This was already arguably romantic, but not enough that Izuku would see it as such.

Step two: oh no! Katsuki accidentally booked a room with only one bed. And oh no! Katsuki went down to ask them to switch rooms, and they don’t have any other rooms available! (He fully intended to just simply not ask, of course.)

Step three: go out to dinner. Somewhere romantic with candles and shit. They’d dress up and there would only be other couples. With as many dinners as they’d had together, this one would be undeniably romantic.

Step four: go for a walk on the beach to watch the sunset. Did it get more romantic than that?

Step five: Izuku notices the romantic vibes. He either comments on it or gets flustered or something. Katsuki swoops in and confesses his love.

It was foolproof. Katsuki knew this would be the thing to get through to Izuku, if anything could.

Basically, Katsuki intended to find out this weekend for good if Izuku liked him in a not platonic way at all. Or even found Katsuki remotely attractive. Because he could work with that too.

At the end of it, Katsuki was satisfied. After this, there was no way Izuku wouldn’t give him some sort of sign.

Katsuki knew initiating the plan would be easy enough.

“Izuku,” Katsuki said, fake-casually looking up from his computer across the room to his hero partner’s desk. He celebrated internally at the lazy boredom in his voice, completely contradicting the hammering of his heart inside his chest.

“Hmm, yes, Kacchan?” Izuku responded, seeming sort of distracted as he read through Hero News Daily on his phone.

“What’re you doing this weekend?”

“Ummm,” Izuku looked up from his phone, directing a mildly confused look at Katsuki. “Working?”

It wasn’t a surprising answer. That was what they did every weekend.

“Not anymore,” Katsuki announced. “We’re going to Okinawa.”

“Oh,” Izuku said, blinking as he fixed Katsuki with a very blank look. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Katsuki snapped. “I want to go to the beach. Get a goddamn break. You need one too. So, let’s go.”

For a moment, Izuku looked at him rather uncomprehendingly, as if the idea of a break was not something he could even conceptualize. Then his eyes widened.

“Go to the beach?” Izuku repeated. “Just, like a vacation?”

“Yes, like a goddamn vacation,” Katsuki narrowed his eyes. “Seeing as I have taken exactly zero vacation days ever. And yes, you have to come because I know you haven’t either. And I already booked it.”

He had, but that didn’t mean Izuku had to come. Izuku was far from the timid guy he’d been in middle school. Katsuki knew if he didn’t want to come for some reason that he’d say so.

“Oh, okay!” Izuku agreed, smiling. Then, he looked a bit puzzled. “Uh, wait. You already booked it? For this weekend?”

“Yes,” Katsuki gave him his best scowl to cover his sudden anxiety.

Was Izuku really going to say no? Shit.

“But… what about work?” Izuku said.

Ah, right. Of course not. He was just a workaholic.

“Already figured it out,” Katsuki waved it off. “There’s plenty of people to cover for us. And I want to go to the damn beach. So, you’re coming with me.”

“O-oh,” Izuku said as he nodded, before smiling again. “Okay, Kacchan!”

Victory.

Things were going great. Perfectly. Dare Katsuki say flawlessly.

Izuku had been chattering excitedly for most of the trip, they’d watched some old All Might movies together on the way, and Katsuki had just got a notification that their room was ready right as they pulled up to the hotel.

“Woah,” Izuku said, his eyes widening as they walked through the automatic glass front doors. “Kacchan, this place is so nice.”

Katsuki might’ve splurged a bit on a nice resort that was right on the beach. So what? He was trying to seduce the love of his life.

“They were pretty booked up when I made the reservation,” Katsuki lied. “So, they gave us the last room available.”

“Oh, wow, we got lucky!” Izuku beamed, and Katsuki had to look away because it was too bright.

Katsuki went to check them in. Izuku was distracted by the beautiful hotel and Katsuki was distracted by Izuku, but the attendant didn’t seem to mind that Katsuki was hardly paying attention.

Soon enough, they were making their way to the room, and Katsuki’s heart was thrumming with nervous anticipation. Would Izuku be disgusted that they had to share a bed? No, he needed to be serious. This was Izuku. If anything, Izuku would offer to take the floor and Katsuki would have to convince him to share it. But he would convince him. He was determined not to let anything get in his way. Not this time.

“322…324! This one’s ours!” Izuku said excitedly, swiping the keycard and pushing open the door quickly.

“So, I’m sorry but—” Katsuki started as they walked inside but was cut off by a sharp gasp from Izuku and the sight of the room before him.

“Kacchan,” Izuku was in awe, frozen in the entryway of the room. Katsuki found himself frozen in place right behind him, shocked to silence for an entirely different reason. “This room is so big!”

“Huh,” Katsuki said, for lack of anything better to say. “Yeah.”

Katsuki found himself in a continued state of shock as Izuku giggled excitedly, kicking off his shoes and running around like a child.

The room was huge. The entry way had a closet to the right and led into an actual kitchen. Beyond that was a living room with a couch and a TV, seeming to lead onto a balcony. There were a few doors off the left side of the room.

Definitely… not what Katsuki had booked. Katsuki had asked very specifically for a room with one bed. Not a suite, either. Just one singular room, one singular bed.

Not all hope was lost, but Katsuki didn’t like that there was a couch— definitely with a pull-out bed. That would make things complicated.

Numbly, barely even aware of Izuku’s happy chatter as he explored, Katsuki went to find the bedroom. The first door, off to the left, was a bathroom. The second one led to the bedroom, and for a moment Katsuki could only stand in the doorway, staring.

There were two beds. Two queen-sized beds, side by side.

All hope was lost.

This was the worst thing that had ever happened to Katsuki. He felt a strong sense of despair creeping up inside of him that he was having trouble suppressing. It felt like this unshakable confidence within him had been shattered all at once. His plan—his flawless, foolproof plan—had been destroyed right at the foundation.

As he stared in horror at the two beds, Katsuki tried to tell himself he could remedy this. He tried to remind himself about the rest of the plan. There was still a chance. He could fix this. He could. He had to.

“Kacchan, did you see the balcony?” Izuku called excitedly from somewhere in the distance, behind Katsuki. Probably on the balcony. Katsuki remained in the doorway, staring at the two beds as he fought back the feelings of defeat.

Two beds instead of one was not romantic. Very platonic. The opposite vibe of what Katsuki had been going for. What the hell happened? He’d been very specific about which room he’d wanted. For this reason.

“Kacchan?” Izuku materialized behind him, and Katsuki barely reacted. “What’re you doing?”

Katsuki was still standing in the doorway to the bedroom, bag in hand, staring at the beds. The entire point of this trip had been that Izuku needed something obviously romantic. Clearly a couple’s vacation.

“Kacchan?” Izuku repeated, worried. He put his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, pushing to turn him so he could look at Katsuki’s face. Katsuki distantly allowed himself to be turned, feeling broken by the universe. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong room,” Katsuki said emptily as he fought the despair taking hold of his soul. He felt ready to give up on life. Any chance of happiness. Clearly, this was a sign that he was meant to be alone forever and ever. “Was supposed to be a king bed.”

Izuku looked confused, glancing at the bedroom and then the room behind him and muttering a few unintelligible words to himself.

With the last bit of strength in his body, Katsuki took a step into the room, dropped his bag on the floor, and promptly faceplanted into the bed closest to the door.

His bed. As in the bed he would sleep in alone tonight. Exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Facedown on the bed, Katsuki let out a loud groan of frustration. What had he done to deserve this? Hadn’t he atoned enough for his sins? What cruel god had he pissed off to receive this fate?

“Ah, Kacchan!” Izuku sounded worried and frantic. Katsuki heard him come up beside the bed. “It’s okay! We can fix it! Let me— let me call and see if they have any other rooms!”

Katsuki felt a spark of life in his cold, dead soul and turned his head to watch Izuku pick up the room’s phone and hit the button for the front desk.

“Hi!” Izuku said, overly chipper as per usual. “It seems we’ve been given the wrong room. Was there some kind of mistake?”

Katsuki watched with narrowed eyes as Izuku listened to the person on the other end, nodding along to whatever was being said. After a moment, Izuku’s eyebrows shot up, and he glanced at Katsuki with worry in his eyes.

“Uh, right,” Izuku said, sounding stressed and a tad awkward. “Thank you! That’s… that’s very nice of you. But is the old room available by any chance? Sorry, I… uh… I think my partner wanted that one.”

Katsuki felt the heat creep up his neck as he continued to stare at Izuku. He knew Izuku meant “hero partner” but saying it like that would definitely be interpreted differently. He wondered if Izuku even noticed.

Izuku’s face fell, looking at Katsuki apologetically. But Izuku referring to him as his partner had reminded Katsuki of his mission and revived the hope within him. He pushed himself up, instead sitting on the bed and facing Izuku.

Not only did he have to fix this, but he would. He was Bakugou fucking Katsuki, dammit. He refused to lose, not even to fate itself.

“Right, well, thanks anyways,” Izuku said, before putting down the phone. He chewed his lip nervously, glancing out towards the doorway and the second part of their massive room. “Sorry, Kacchan. The other room wasn’t available anymore.”

“It’s fine,” Katsuki said, though he knew he still sounded annoyed. He was annoyed.

“I can’t fix the king bed part, but I’ll still sleep out on the pullout couch, of course,” Izuku reassured, sitting on the bed across from Katsuki.

Katsuki stared blankly at him. Though he felt mainly confused, his voice came out angry and terse, “What?”

“I-I know you wanted the king-bed room!” Izuku stammered quickly. He sounded worried, seeming genuinely distressed at Katsuki’s reaction to their room and his suddenly atrocious mood. “And I know these beds aren’t as big, but I’ll still give you your privacy and sleep out on the pullout!”

Katsuki felt like his brain was shutting down. The words Izuku was saying contradicted so completely with his own worldview that he felt like the only explanation was he’d received a massive head injury and forgotten about it. Was his brain simply mixing up words or something?

“What the hell are you talking about?” Katsuki snapped, frustrated beyond belief with how things had gone from so hopeful to so distressing to so confusing so quickly.

Izuku’s face fell further, looking even more anxious. He flailed his arms a bit, gesturing around the room as he spoke, “Ah, well, you said you got the king suite originally. And I know you’re upset that the beds aren’t a king bed. And I was just trying to reassure you that I wasn’t planning on invading your space just because there’s two beds now!”

In a past life, Katsuki must’ve thoroughly pissed off some powerful and vengeful being.

Katsuki had not said he’d wanted a king suite. The original room had been a single room. With a single bed. But now it seemed Izuku was spinning a tale all on his own. And Katsuki felt helpless to stop it without telling Izuku directly that he’d wanted one singular bed and was upset that wasn’t the case. It felt too direct.

Katsuki was a coward, and the consequences of his cowardice meant he had to continue to sit by and suffer as his supposedly foolproof plan crumbled before his eyes. This was why the plan was needed in the first place. To battle Izuku and his obliviousness and his assumptions. The plan couldn’t afford any mistakes, and yet here they were.

“I’m so sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku was still speaking, doing his best to console. “They upgraded the room because they realized who we were. They thought they were doing us a favor. We… um… we could push the two beds together, maybe! Oh, they’re bolted to the floor. Never mind, er…”

Katsuki had fallen back into the pit of despair, falling back onto his back and staring blankly at the ceiling. He barely registered Izuku’s increasingly distressed ramblings or how he’d gone over to try to scoot the bed or how he now looked like he was going to take flight with how he was flailing his arms around.

“Kacchan, uh—” Izuku came back to stand in front of Katsuki, who was still staring at the ceiling and mentally asking the universe for an explanation. As he spoke, he leaned closer and more into Katsuki’s line of sight. “Kacchan, are you okay? It’ll be fine, you’ll still get your privacy! And I know the bed isn’t what you wanted, but it’s still pretty big and—”

“Stop yapping in my face!” Katsuki barked as Izuku’s worried chatter finally triggered his annoyance. A big improvement from earlier in their lives, where Izuku’s babying would’ve set him off immediately. Normally his tolerance was even greater, but Katsuki was tired of hearing Izuku continue to stomp all over the ruins of his failed master plan.

Katsuki sat up, which had Izuku stumbling back a few steps from the sudden movement, and turned to grab his bag. Though he was pissed off and incredibly frustrated, he couldn’t give up just yet. They would have a romantic dinner and walk on the beach, and then Katsuki would find some excuse for them needing to sleep in the same bed. He could fix this. He could find a way.

“We’ve got dinner reservations, get dressed,” Katsuki snapped as he dug through his bag.

“Er… reservations?”

“Did you bring nice clothes like I told you to?”

“Yes!” Izuku nodded, turning to go get his own bag. “I did!”

“Good,” Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Izuku’s retreating back.

Katsuki wasn’t a fucking quitter. The universe wasn’t on his side? Fine. He would figure this shit out himself.

Katsuki felt like quitting.

Not permanently. But like… this trip was clearly cursed.

They’d gone out to dinner at a fancy restaurant with dimmed lights and full of tables for two. Katsuki had ordered a bottle of wine and suggested they order two dishes to split. Izuku had agreed. Katsuki was finally feeling hopeful as the server came by and lit a candle. They were surrounded by couples clearly being romantic.

All that was left was for Izuku to notice. If he commented on it, then Katsuki could gauge his reaction.

So far of course, Izuku had not been phased at all by the clearly romantic nature of it all. But Katsuki had been feeling confident, spurred on by his determination to get his plan back on track.

“Hey, Izuku,” Katsuki had started to say, heart rate picking up with his own bold plan. He would point it out himself if Izuku refused to notice the obvious. “What do you—”

“Oh my god,” a loud voice cut him off. “Are you Deku?! The Pro Hero?!”

“Hi, yes!” Izuku responded cheerily, immediately looking away from Katsuki to the source of the voice.

All at once, Katsuki felt all the patience, joy, and hope get sucked out of him, leaving a vacuum of cold, dark hatred. Annoyance and fury boiled to the surface within him as someone walked over from somewhere behind him, speaking to Izuku.

With the exaggeratingly slow head turn of someone trying not to lose their absolute shit, Katsuki tore his eyes away from Izuku to look upon the next interruption in his originally foolproof plan. When the person got up alongside the table and realized Katsuki was sitting there too, they looked at him with excitement as well. It was some random woman.

She was being loud as hell, but luckily it seemed that every other restaurant-goer was polite enough to mind their business and not be as rude as this woman was.

“And Pro Hero Dynamight!” the woman gasped when she saw him.

“It’s Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!” Katsuki snapped at her, feeling his rage threatening to boil over. The last thread of his willpower held it back. Damn woman couldn’t even get his hero name right!

“I’m such a huge fan of you guys!” the woman said, beaming with excitement. She must’ve been telling the truth to some extent, based on how little she reacted to Katsuki’s aggression.

Katsuki wished she would die in a fire.

“Ah, thank you so much!” Izuku said, just as grateful and flustered as with every single other one of their thousands of fans and admirers. He beamed right back at her, his face slightly flushed, and looked as genuine as every other time any of them said something. Katsuki barely resisted rolling his eyes.

“Babe, look!” the woman turned as someone else walked up beside her. A man. Another extra.

Katsuki hoped he died in a fire too.

“Oh wow,” the man said, gawking like an idiot. “You— you guys— we’re such huge fans!”

“Thanks!” Izuku smiled at him too.

“Could we please get your autographs?” the woman—who Katsuki deemed Extra 1—asked, starting to dig around in her bag. “I know I have a pen somewhere.”

“Sure!” Izuku said. At the same time, Katsuki said, “Eat shit.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku scolded as he glanced at him in horror, before looking back and forth between him and the fans with increasing distress. “S-sorry about him! He’s just— he’s having a bad day!”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at him. He glared as he snapped defensively, “My day’s going just fucking fine!”

“Oh no, are you guys on a date?” Extra 1 suddenly looked horrified. “I’m so sorry to interrupt!”

Yes, so fuck off and die in a fire, was on the tip of Katsuki’s tongue. But he was a millisecond too late, and Izuku started talking first.

“WHAT?!” Izuku said, way too loudly for the restaurant as he went bright red. “No, no, nothing like that! Haha!” He laughed awkwardly, his face flaming red, and he glanced at Katsuki.

Katsuki knew he looked ready to kill someone (because he was), and Izuku seemed to shrink even further under his gaze.

“We’re just having dinner! As friends!” Izuku emphasized shrilly, turning back to the woman.

You know? Maybe just have Izuku die in the fire too. Just a hard reset.

“Oh, so you wouldn’t mind us joining you?” Extra 1 said, hopefully. “I have so many questions about your careers and Quirks.”

Actually? Burn this whole place down. With Katsuki in it. It was time to give up on life.

Once again, Katsuki was overwhelmed with helplessness that consumed him along with his anger. He found himself unable to speak for fear of immediately losing his absolute shit and getting them kicked out of this restaurant before they’d even had their food.

“O-oh,” Izuku glanced one more time at Katsuki, who had shut down completely, frozen again with that look of fury on his face. “I would love to talk to you more, but I don’t—”

“Great!” Extra 1 said, going to move a table closer to theirs. Like this was some goddamn diner and not one of the nicest restaurants in the area. What the actual fuck.

Katsuki felt his eye twitch. His gaze burned into Izuku’s. Izuku looked overwhelmed and flustered, knowing full well that romantic date or not Katsuki would not want this. However, Izuku was also nothing if not the friendliest pushover around.

Fuck Izuku and his commitment to exceptional fan interactions.

And Katsuki? Well, he couldn’t think of a way to tell them to fuck off without either getting them kicked out of the restaurant, himself arrested for murder, or worst of all, accidentally confessing his love for his best friend right here in front of everyone. Additionally, he couldn’t really a see a way to get out of this without Izuku being extremely pissed at him for yelling at strangers.

How many times had Izuku been furious with him for not having more patience with their fans? Any other time, Katsuki would say fuck that. But he was trying to stay on Izuku’s good side here.

So, he just watched and gave into the feeling of despair as the table was dragged up next to theirs, and the couple moved to sit next to them. Katsuki, again rather eerily slowly, turned to look at the woman’s partner—Extra 2—before he could so much as step closer.

“If you sit down next to me, I’ll throw you out that fuckin’ window,” Katsuki promised as he glared furiously and pointed helpfully to an open window not too far from them.

“Oh, sorry! Um—” Extra 2 stuttered, glancing over at Izuku and his wife.

Izuku stood up so fast he bumped into the table and everything on it clattered. “O-okay, okay! I’ll sit there. I’ll sit there, sir. You sit here!”

And that was how Katsuki ended up listening to some extras chat with Izuku for the rest of dinner, pissed and feeling increasingly hopeless. He didn’t remember a single thing they talked about, and he most definitely didn’t remember either of the extras’ names.

Maybe this trip was doomed after all.

“Kacchan, are you okay?” Izuku softly asked Katsuki, who was so quiet and lifeless that he was practically catatonic. They rode up the elevator to their room, having finally rid themselves of the annoying fans.

“Just had my dinner hijacked by some extras,” Katsuki grumbled.

“Ah, sorry, yeah,” Izuku sounded and looked like he felt really bad, rubbing the back of his head anxiously. “I… I should’ve told them no. I felt bad. But that wasn’t cool.”

Katsuki stared at the floor numbers ticking upward on the elevator’s display and wondered if he should get his blood pressure checked. Today had been such a terrible disaster, and he felt ready to explode. Not like his Quirk, but rather his body just felt moments from exploding from the stress and fury.

They walked into the room, Katsuki trying once again to pick back up his pride and motivation from where it was once again crushed into the ground. He could feel Izuku’s stress and worry over his mood radiating towards him. The last thing he wanted was for Izuku to spend his whole weekend stressed the hell out, but regaining even a neutral mood was proving to be difficult.

“Um, did you enjoy the food at least, Kacchan?” Izuku asked, attempting to sound upbeat as he clearly tried to salvage the evening.

Katsuki kicked his shoes off. “It was fine.”

He didn’t remember it.

“Kacchan, I’m really sorry,” Izuku said, and he sounded so upset this time that it actually dragged Katsuki out of his own misery to glance at him. “I feel like I’ve hijacked your trip and the room was messed up and we had to share our dinner with strangers and I just—”

“Shut it,” Katsuki cut him off with a huffed-out sigh, shaking his head. “It’s fine. Let’s just… I want to go walk on the beach.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up, latching on to the new idea with all the enthusiasm in his body. “Yes! Okay, yes, let’s go!”

Walking on the beach and watching the sunset had actually been nice. It had improved Katsuki’s mood significantly. The sunset was beautiful, setting the sky and sea alight with various hues of orange and yellow.

Standing in the fading golden light, eyes bright with wonder, Izuku was captivating. Katsuki felt the warm, icky, sappy part of himself stir again. It spread, warming him and chasing away his previous bad mood. He listened to Izuku chatter, they talked back and forth about nothing important, and he felt himself let go of his murderous rage.

He was still here, with Izuku. There wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather be.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t immediately feel like dropkicking Izuku off that fucking balcony he loved so much when it came time to go to bed.

“IZUKU!” Katsuki snapped, yet again. “It’s fine! You can sleep in this shitty bed!” He pointed aggressively to the one next to his own.

“No, it’s okay, Kacchan!” Izuku shook his head rapidly. “I’m already set up in the other room!”

Katsuki fumed as Izuku ducked out of the doorway to return to said other room. For whatever reason, Izuku had convinced himself that Katsuki wanted his own goddamn room and wouldn’t hear anything else.

“Fine! See if I care! Enjoy your back problems on that shitty pullout bed!” Katsuki shouted, climbing into bed and turning towards the wall like a petulant child. He ignored the sigh he heard Izuku let out from the other room.

But Katsuki couldn’t fucking sleep. Despite being exhausted and absolutely done with this entire trip, he didn’t want to sleep. His heart beat erratically just knowing Izuku was so close by. Like some little kid crush. As if they hadn’t shared spaces like a billion times before. It was ridiculous.

Katsuki turned over for the thousandth time, furiously seeing on the blinking nightstand clock that it was one in the fucking morning. He could even hear Izuku’s slightly louder, even breathing— and he knew that asshole usually stayed up late on his phone.

“Fuck this,” he grumbled, throwing the comforter off and getting to his feet. He stomped over to the other room to find Izuku sprawled in the middle of the goddamn pullout bed’s mattress. At full volume, he barked, “Oi! Move over!”

“Wha—?” Izuku peeled open his eyes at the noise, sluggish and voice heavy with sleep. “K’cchan?”

“Move over!” Katsuki repeated, annoyed, as he started to climb onto the bed.

“What?” Izuku woke up more, pushing himself to the side as Katsuki made himself comfortable on the other side of the bed. He blinked rapidly at Katsuki as if he wasn’t sure if he was even awake. “Why? Kacchan what’re you doing?”

“The other beds are fucking uncomfortable!” Katsuki snapped waspishly, hoping his clear irritation would deter Izuku from questioning it. “Let me sleep here!”

At this point, he didn’t even give a fuck if this weekend led to anything. He was just pissed and tired and wanted to be closer to Izuku. Even if it was fucking platonic. He knew people shared beds platonically so most likely Izuku would find a way to make this platonic in his mind. He no longer gave a single fucking shit. He just felt ridiculous sleeping in the other room alone—so far from his original plans for this trip.

“Huh?” Izuku squinted through the darkness at him.

The pullout couch was even smaller than the queen beds in the other room. It was debatably too small for two fully grown men, but Katsuki would sleep on the edge of the fucking bed if he had to at this point. He yanked the covers over himself, turning his back to Izuku grumpily.

“Okay, Kacchan,” Izuku relented, and Katsuki heard squeaking and creaking from the shitty pullout as Izuku moved around. “You can have this bed. I’ll go in the other room.”

“What?!” Katsuki demanded, whipping his head around as Izuku climbed out of the bed with a yawn and started to sleepily amble towards the door. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Other—” Izuku cut himself off with another massive yawn. “Room.”

Katsuki rolled onto his back and slapped his palms down over his eyes. He pushed them into his eye sockets until they hurt, wondering what he had truly done to deserve this. Couldn’t Izuku catch one hint? Just fucking one hint?!

Was he being rejected? It didn’t feel like Izuku understood what he was doing and was rejecting him. It felt like Izuku was an idiot.

There were too many beds in this shitty hotel room. It was ruining Katsuki’s life.

Another minute of despair turned to fury, and Katsuki shoved himself once again to his feet. Stomping to the doorway, he saw that Izuku had fallen asleep in the other bed— the one Katsuki had not been sleeping in originally.

Bracing one hand on the doorframe, Katsuki fumed and seethed like a bull getting ready to charge.

Fuck this. Fuck this. Katsuki wasn’t a goddamn bitch. And if Izuku really didn’t want him, of course he’d fucking respect that. But dammit if he wasn’t going to make his intentions clear first.

He was Bakugou Katsuki. There was zero way in hell he would go down without a fight.

And… maybe he was also exhausted, and it zapped his ability to give a shit about the actual consequences doing this could have.

With new determination, Katsuki stomped over to the new bed Izuku had chosen, staring with fury down at where Izuku was again passed out cold. Fucker… sleeping peacefully while Katsuki was having the worst fucking twenty-four hours of his life. Sure, he’d died once. But you know what? At least he didn’t remember being dead. He got to be unconscious like this stupid fucker here was right now.

Izuku had fallen asleep on his back, his head tilted up, hair a mess against the pillow, his mouth hanging open, and his face slack. He looked ridiculous, sprawled out like this. Katsuki glared at him, because how fucking dare Izuku lie here like this, and Katsuki still thought he was cute. Nah, Izuku would pay for this shit.

Katsuki’s heart fluttered like he was a little schoolboy with a crush, and he promptly kneeled on the bed and shoved Izuku to the side.

“WWhhaa—?” Izuku made a weird gasping, snorting noise as he was startled awake for the second time.

“Move!” Katsuki growled, pissed as hell now. “I’m sleeping here!”

“Kacchan,” Izuku groaned, head falling back on the pillow. His voice was low, gruff, sleepy, sexy— Katsuki wanted to kick his ass. “Didn’t I just move? This isn’t even your bed!”

“Yeah, now stay where you fucking are!” Katsuki demanded. “Go the fuck to sleep!”

“What?” Izuku again leveled a sleepy, confused gaze at Katsuki. “Kacchan, what’re you talking about?”

Katsuki started punching the hotel pillows into place, seething openly. He swore to fucking GOD Izuku better keep his annoyingly hot ass where it was supposed to be.

“Go to sleep!” Katsuki barked, before lying down next to him with his back to Izuku and yanking the blankets towards him. Again, wrapping them around himself and sulking.

“I—” Izuku was still speaking behind him, sounding increasingly awake but no less confused. “Kacchan, where do you want me to sleep? Do you want me to sleep on the floor? Because I can just—”

“If you try to sleep on the floor, I’m going to explode you to hell!” Katsuki half-shouted, gripping at the blankets with his hands that were seconds away from starting to smoke.

“Kacchan!” Izuku scolded, sounding frustrated and confused. “I don’t—” He cut himself off and sighed.

Katsuki heard him start to move around again, and he reached the absolute end of his patience. He turned in time to grab hold of Izuku’s sleep shirt as Izuku started to get up and yank him back down.

“OI! What the hell did I just say?!” Katsuki snarled, pushing himself up to partially loom over Izuku and keeping a firm hand on his shoulder, pressing down.

“I won’t sleep on the floor!” Izuku protested shrilly. “I was just going to go back to the other room!”

“Fucking why?!” Katsuki demanded.

“So, you can have this bed?!” Izuku looked so lost, fully awake but his eyes still extra wide and blinking away sleep. “Kacchan, I’m sorry! I don’t know why you’re so mad!”

“I’m mad because you’re a fucking idiot!” Katsuki snapped, before shoving away from Izuku to his side of the bed. He lay on his back, crossing his arms and glaring up at the ceiling.

“An idiot?” Izuku asked, bewildered but increasingly defensive. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, looking over at Katsuki. “Kacchan, how the hell is this my fault? I’m trying to accommodate you here! What do you want?!”

Katsuki seethed, sitting up too and glaring over at him. “I want you to get a fucking clue, Izuku!”

“A clue about what?!” Izuku sounded strained, frantic. “I’m just trying to go to sleep! Where do you want me to sleep, Kacchan?! I’m not a mind reader!”

“I WANT YOU TO SLEEP WITH ME, ASSHOLE!” Katsuki shouted, breathing hard.

Izuku’s eyes went as wide as saucers and every muscle in his body seemed to lock in place.

“FUCK!” Katsuki shouted when he realized what his stupid mouth had said. He put his head in his hands, letting out a noise of frustration. “Fuck, that’s not what I meant. I meant— fuck, I didn’t mean sleep with me. I meant like, sleep in this bed with me. Like sleep. Here. With me.”

Katsuki looked up to scowl at Izuku, jamming his finger into the bed next to him. His heart was hammering, his face burning, and he covered up the fact he wanted to hurl from anxiety with anger. Defensively, he demanded, “So, you want to, or not?”

Izuku’s eyes remained impossibly wide, his brow starting to furl with incredulous confusion as he continued to stay frozen in place.

“What?” he squeaked out, looking at Katsuki as if he’d started speaking another language.

Katsuki groaned, digging one of his hands into his hair in frustration.

“I don’t—” Izuku sounded so out of his depth, so thrown off. It was not encouraging. “I don’t understand what the hell is going on, Kacchan.”

“Fuckin’—” Katsuki’s face was burning. “Fuckin’ go sleep somewhere else, then! See if I care!”

“Kacchan, what are you even asking me?” Izuku pleaded, voice strained. “Are you asking to share a bed with me? I thought you didn’t want that!”

“Well, you thought fucking wrong!” Katsuki scowled at him.

“What?” Izuku looked comically back and forth between Katsuki and the entrance to the other room. “But— this room—”

“Yeah!” Katsuki shouted. “The original room was supposed to have one fucking bed!”

Izuku gaped at him. “Why—? What—? Kacchan, what the hell are you talking about?”

“The original room was supposed to have one singular fucking bed!” Katsuki pointed down at the bed he was on. “It wasn’t a suite or any of that shit!”

“But… why would…” Izuku’s face scrunched in total confusion, his hands digging into his hair on either side of his head. “Kacchan, why would we share a bed? Why were you upset that the room was changed? I’m too tired for this!”

“Because I’m in love with you, you stupid, oblivious, idiot!” Katsuki yelled as he whipped a pillow around at full strength to smack Izuku in the face. “Now go die!”

“WHAT?!” Izuku shrieked, even as the pillow hit him and sent him back onto his back. He yanked it off his face, which was now flaming red and some mix of shocked, horrified, and pissed. He clutched the pillow in his hands.

“You heard me, asshole!” Katsuki shouted. “Now give me that pillow back so I can hit you with it again!”

Katsuki lunged forward, but Izuku tried to shove him away. “Kacchan! Wait! KACCHAN! OUCH!”

“This is my pillow!” Katsuki shoved Izuku’s face into the bed with one hand and attempted to wrestle the pillow from him with the other hand.

“You just hit me with it!” Izuku shrieked, his voice strained as he fought against Katsuki. “Wait! Kacchan, stop! Are you— did you just— did you just say you love me?”

“I hate fucking repeating myself!” Katsuki shouted, before pivoting to plant his feet against Izuku’s ribcage and hip and start shoving him off the bed. He braced his hand on the nightstand behind him for additional leverage.

“NO! STOP! KACCHAN!” Izuku yelled, grabbing at his feet and legs and scrambling to grab the headboard to stop himself from being shoved off. “KACCHAN, WAIT!”

“You want to sleep in the other room so bad, fine!” Katsuki shouted, huffing with exertion as he fought against Izuku’s struggling and kept pushing at him with his legs. “SEE IF I FUCKING CARE!”

“KACCHAN!” Izuku protested again, before yelping as he lost and fell heavily off the side of the bed. He groaned loudly in pain. “Ow.”

“Now leave me alone,” Katsuki grumbled, moving his pillow back into place.

There was hardly any warning. The faintest flash of light, a crackle of electricity, and then Izuku was on top of the bed again, tackling Katsuki.

“YOU FUCKER!” Katsuki shouted as he tried to fight back. “You can’t use your Quirk! Cheater!”

Unfortunately, that asshole Izuku knew Katsuki couldn’t use his Quirk because it was a goddamn hotel room. And as much as they might be more equal in strength when they were both Quirkless, Izuku’s Quirk was quite literally to be strong and fast. Within seconds, Izuku had him effectively pinned on his stomach, arms twisted behind his back.

“You— cheater—” Katsuki gasped as Izuku held him in a superhumanly strong grip. “I’ll kill you.”

“Kacchan, please calm down!” Izuku begged. “Please, can we talk about this?!”

“About—” Katsuki started, surging with all his strength to try and break the hold. To no avail. “—what?!”

“You just said you’re in love with me!” Izuku half-shouted, voice strained with a thousand emotions.

“AND?!” Katsuki twisted his head as much as possible to attempt to glare at Izuku. “It’s not a big deal!”

The flickering lightning from around Izuku died, and he shoved back from Katsuki, appalled. “What?! How is that not a big deal? Love… like romantic love?!”

Katsuki leveled him with a defensive glare to try and cover up everything else he was feeling. “What about it?!”

Izuku’s mouth hung open, and he was blinking slowly. “Like a boyfriend? Like… who you go on dates with? Hold hands with?”

Katsuki groaned, falling back onto his back on the bed. “I’ve made such a massive mistake.”

“Wha— is that really why you’ve been so upset about the beds and everything?” Izuku asked, confused and increasingly indignant, gesturing vaguely at the room. When Katsuki only glared at the ceiling, he demanded, “Kacchan?!”

“Yes, okay?” Katsuki turned to glare at him. “Now go away, and let’s never fucking talk about this again!”

“DO YOU WANT TO DATE ME OR NOT?!”

“YES, ASSHOLE! DO YOU NEED YOUR EARS CHECKED?!”

“THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST FUCKING SAY THAT?!” Izuku shouted, before lunging forward and pressing his lips to Katsuki’s so suddenly that Katsuki choked out a gasp of surprise.

He felt like he had whiplash, screaming and wallowing in rejection one moment, and then suddenly soft, slightly chapped lips were moving against his own. Stunned, feeling almost out of his own body, he slowly moved to kiss him back.

A moment later Izuku pulled away. His wide green eyes blazed with fury. “How dare you call me an idiot, Kacchan?! That was the least clear confession anyone has ever given!”

“You know what? Fuck you!” Katsuki retorted. “I’ve been obviously flirting with you for years and you give me nothing!”

“How was I supposed to know you were flirting?!”

“I compliment you all the fucking time!”

“I thought you were being nice!”

“I asked you to go to dinner with me!”

“We go to dinner all the time!”

“I asked you to go on vacation with me!”

“Kacchan, we’ve been on vacations before!”

“You—” Katsuki paused to huff out a noise of frustration. “Fuck you! Everyone can tell I’ve got a thing for you, and not a single fucking person could tell if you liked me at all!”

“What?!” Izuku gaped at him. “Kacchan, have you actually lost your mind?! I feel like I’ve been so obvious about this stuff for years! I had to ask for us to stop living together because I felt like I was being too creepy!”

“You piss me the fuck off,” Katsuki snapped, before wrapping his hand in the front of Izuku’s sleep shirt and pulling him back down to meet his lips.

This kiss was harder, messier, angrier. They were both breathing hard from shouting, and Katsuki shoved him back away after a few moments. “I’m exhausted. Get the fuck away from me and go to sleep!”

“Kacchan, you can’t keep being so confusing—”

“Don’t tell me what to do, dipshit!”

“Kacchan!”

“And if you leave this bed, I’ll fucking kill you!” Katsuki snapped, before again rolling over to face away from Izuku, huffing.

Izuku sighed, but Katsuki just heard him shuffle the sheets around.

After a minute or two, during which Katsuki ignored the heavy silence and rebelliously shut his eyes, Izuku said quietly, “Kacchan?”

“What?”

“Um…” Izuku’s voice was quiet, and almost shaky with nerves. It effectively squashed a lot of Katsuki’s anger. “Can I… hold you?”

Katsuki’s heart panged, and suddenly everything was sort of overwhelming. But not in a bad way. He managed to say, “Tch. Whatever.”

Again, he heard shuffling, and then slowly Izuku’s arms came to wrap around him, pulling them closer together. His forehead came to rest on Katsuki’s back, and one of his legs hooked between Katsuki’s.

Katsuki’s eyes were wide open, his heart hammering in his ribcage and his skin on fire where it was touching Izuku’s.

“Goodnight, Kacchan,” Izuku mumbled sleepily against his back.

“Night,” Katsuki rasped out, suddenly realizing that he might not be able to sleep like this after all.

But he’d made his own bed, so now he’d have to lie in it.